Duckworth: Military incapable of fixing sexual assault problem

5/12/13 12:02 PM EDT

Democratic Reps. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii on Sunday blasted the military's handling of sexual assault cases, calling the system broken and in desperate need of fixing.

Duckworth, a lieutenant colonel in the Illinois Army National Guard, said on CNN's "State of the Union" that “the military has shown it is not capable of fixing this problem."

Gabbard and Duckworth said they were shocked over the case of an Air Force commander overturning the 2009 conviction of an Air Force captain found guilty of aggravated sexual assault by a jury.

“A commander should not have the power to overturn a jury’s verdict," said Gabbard, who is in the Hawaii Army National Guard.

Duckworth called it a "betrayal of trust," and said that the Uniform Code of Military Justice is not sufficient for sexual assault crimes in the military.

“I’ve been a supporter of the system, of the (Uniform Code of Military Justice) until this point. But this is such an aberration, this is so horrendous this is absolutely so unacceptable that its time to take this next very serious step," she said.

Duckworth said something is "breaking down between the coursework" taught on how to handle sexual assaults and what "actually happens when someone reports the problem.”